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What Dougie Hamilton can learn from Tyler Seguin

WILMINGTON – In some ways, Dougie Hamilton and Tyler Seguin have a lot in common. In other ways, the two couldn’t be more different.

Both were high draft picks (the faces of the Phil Kessel deal) who, as of Saturday, will have broken into the NHL as teenagers. They came in as highly touted prospects who had to adjust to both a dressing room full of older guys and a league that was unlike anything they had dealt with physically. Seguin knows what Hamilton’s going through now, just like star veterans knew what he was going through a couple seasons ago.

Then there are the obvious differences. For one, Seguin is a high-flying forward and Hamilton is a gigantic defenseman. From a personality standpoint, Hamilton is quiet and careful. Seguin’s a rock star. He’s savvy and gets along with everyone, but he’s flashier.

So how would Claude Julien compare Hamilton now to Seguin two years ago? He wouldn’t. At all.

“Everybody's got different personalities,” Julien said. “I'll tell you right now, Dougie Hamilton is a lot like Patrice Bergeron was when he came in as an 18-year-old. He's a pretty grounded, pretty quiet individual. I think he's pretty low-profile as a person and pretty discrete, so it's hard to compare [him to Seguin].

“Siggy is a very popular individual and he's electrifying when you see him play and he's at his best, so I don't know if I'd be able to compare those two because they're two different personalities.”

They may have different personalities, but they have similar stories, so when Seguin realized this week that Hamilton was going through the same drastic adjustment that he faced just two years ago, he pulled a veteran move. The 20-year-old gave Hamilton a call and invited him to Monday’s Celtics game with Brad Marchand.

“We had floor seats and we called Dougie up just to get him in the mix right away,” Seguin said. “I still don't know him too well; I played hockey with his brother [Freddie, a center in the Sharks organization] for a year back in the day, so I know his family through that. He's going to have a great time here, and I think he's adjusting very well.”

It may have been a small gesture, but it went a long way for Hamilton, who comes to the NHL after dominating junior hockey since his draft year and putting up 72 points in 50 games last season.

“It was unreal,” Hamilton said. “They invited me, and obviously you can't turn that down. I'd never been to a Celtics game and never sat on the floor. I was really excited and it was really fun.”

Seguin knows what it means to have a veteran help a younger player along. Just as Hamilton is eager to learn all he can from the likes of Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg, Seguin was helped by Bergeron and Mark Recchi. The offensive wunderkind looks at Hamilton’s situation and sees the opportunity for him to take advantage of being on a veteran team, just as he did.

“He's got guys in here that have been around the game for a long time, and especially a guy like Zee sitting beside him,” Seguin said. “I had Rex and I continue to have Bergy, so I always take advantage of that. I always have my eyes and ears open, and just enjoy the learning process.”

It’s universally believed that a defenseman’s development is both longer and more challenging than that of a forward, but many of the adjustments overlap. For example, Dennis Seidenberg remembers being overwhelmed by the size of players and says he benefited from practicing against big forwards like John LeClair and Keith Primeau. Similarly, Seguin remembers feeling the same thing, only he had Zdeno Chara to deal with.

“One hundred percent, especially when you're a rookie, but even still with my age, only being in my third year in the league,” Seguin said of the benefit of practicing with bigger, stronger players. “Playing against Zee, who is the biggest and probably best defenseman in the league, going against him in practice every day is only going to help you out. I think if you can go in with no fear against a guy like that, you should have no problems doing it against any other player in the league.”

Just like Seidenberg went against Primeau and LeClair often in Philadelphia, Hamilton will have the opportunity to battle with some power forwards in Milan Lucic (6-foot-4, 220 pounds) and Nathan Horton (6-foot-2, 229 pounds).

Having thick players to practice with is a big plus for Hamilton, who is working on adding some grit to his game as he transitions away from the less-physical game he played in the OHL and World Juniors.

“Just playing against those guys in the last couple of days, especially with battle drills and stuff, just getting used to that and what you can do, it's definitely a lot different than junior and even more different than World Juniors,” Hamilton explained. “In World Juniors you're pretty much not allowed to touch the guys in the corners or else you're in the box. I'm just trying to get used to that again, being able to cross-check guys and things like that.”

Seguin’s rookie year wasn’t easy. He was a healthy scratch at points in the regular season and through the first two rounds of the playoffs, but he turned it on in the Eastern Conference finals and eventually hoisted the Stanley Cup. Through it all he had to deal with the expectations that came with being a top draft pick and the frustration that came with not putting up the numbers he had achieved easily in junior hockey.

If there’s a lesson he could pass on to Hamilton based on that memorable rookie campaign, it’s to not worry.

“I smiled. I had fun with it as much as I could,” Seguin said. “It goes by so quick obviously, and my expectations only continued to rise, which is part of the game, part of the city. You come to learn that you play for a lot more than just hockey here. You play for the fans, you play for the whole city that is really behind you, and if you're not doing well, they're going to let you know. It's a lot of fun, and it's a great life, so you've got to take advantage of it.”

It sounds crazy to think of Seguin -- who still can’t legally buy a beer in Boston -- as having all of these pearls as wisdom, but there’s nobody who can identify with Hamilton’s situation than the former No. 2 overall pick. He may still be young, but he has key experience that has both shaped his own career and can provide guidance for Hamilton’s.

“It's kind of weird, he's only a year older than me and he's already got this much experience,” Hamilton said. “It's good to just be able to learn from everyone.”

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